Shoestring-fastener.



F. 0. G. BROWN.

SHOESTRING FASTENBR.

APPLIOATION rum) 11.111. 14, 1911.

1,071,696. Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

Attorneys FRED O. 0. BROWN, 01? GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

SHOESTRING-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

Application filed March 14, 1911. Serial No. 614,389.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED O. C. Brown, a citizen of the United States,residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan,have invented a new and useful Sht1estring-Fastener, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to cord holders, and more especially to thosedevices which are adapted to embrace a knot in a lacing terminal; andthe object of the same is to greatly simplify a cord holder of thischaracter so that it may be employed on a laced shoe and in connectionwith the ordinary flat or round shoestring by tying a hard knot .in thelatter.

An additional object is to prevent the string from becoming accidentallyuntied.

These objects are accomplished by the construction hereinafter morefully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein-Figure 1 is a perspective view of the upper portion of a laced shoeprovided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section through thesame on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the hook, andFig. 4: is a central vertical section thereof, bot-l1 being on anenlarged scale.

In the drawings, the letter S designates a shoe open down its front asusual, and at either side thereof there are hooks IT for the receptionof the lacing strings ll as shown in dotted lines.

After lacing the shoe, it is customary to tie the ends of the string ina bow knot, and it is the object of the present invert tion to do awaywith this labor.

It is quite possible to make use of one of the ordinary hooks ill shownin Fig. 1, although by preference my device consists of hooks made alittle larger as shown in that view, and one is secured at the upperedge of each side of the opening in the shoe. Referring now to Figs. 3and 4t, the, hook consists of a tubular body 5 provided with slits (3 inits lower end so that it may be upset or eyeletted as seen at 7 :in Fig.2, a flat flange 8 which lies against the outer face of the leather ofthe shoe around the completed eyelet, and a hook consisting of a bill 9which is formed initially as seen at 90 in Fig. 1 and which thereforecurves npward and inward over the open upper end of the eyelet and isconvexoconcav'o as best seen in Fig. 1 directly over the eyelet, its

cavity 10 standing by preference directly above the eyelet. The shank ofthe bill is rounded laterally as indicated by the dotted line 11 in Fig.3 so that the lacing may pass through the same with as little wearthereon as possible, this being the ordinary construction given tolacing hooks on the market. 'l.hrough the bill of the hook along itstransverse center 1 then form a. slot 12 best seen in l ig. ii, and thisslot is continued around the bend of the hook as in dicated at l3 inFig. -tl. Tn width the slot slightly greater than the width of theordinary lacing I and its throat is disposed at such point within theshank of the hook that the latter may be used for passing the stringaround the book as usual and tying a bow knot in its ends. However, withmy improved construction it: is the intention that the ends of thelacing string shall be led through the slot between the twin prongsl-lof which the hook is composed, and as indicated in dotted lines inFig. 1.

In the use of a shoe having string fasteners of this character, thewearer puts on the shoe and laces it up and then draws the terminals ofthe string or lace through the slots 12 between the prongs 1lof theuppermost hooks, and then ties knots 20 in the string ends as shown inFigs. 1 and 4c. lhereal'ter having laced his shoe, he will pull theterminals a little tighter than neeessary, draw the string through theslots 12 in the upper hooks, then press the string ends toward the shoe,and then allow the tension to draw them inward so that the knots 20 passunder the tips 15 of the prongs It and come to rest as indicated indotted lines in Fig. it partially within the eyelet to retain the knotin position.

it will be observed that I do away en tirely with any member upon theshoestring, and hence the strings in common use may be employed. Also itwill be observed that l form my shoestring fastener from one of theordinary hooks now in common use, (although by preference I may make ita little larger than usual) and hence the manufacturer need go to nogreat expense to provide a shoe with this device. Yet further it. isclear that if the wearer does not care to use this form 01? astener, hemay use the hook in the customary way and tie the ends of the lacing toeach other. But from a mechanical standpoint, the advantage of thisconstruction lies in the fact that the cavity 10 beneath the prongs 14:stands directly over the eyelet through the body 5 so that the knot 20drops partly into said eyelet and is thoroughly covered by the twinprongs 14, and hence this device ofl'ers no unusual obstruction upon theouter surface of the shoe.

What is claimed is:

In a device of the class described, a plate having an opening and adepending tubular eyelet surrounding the opening, one end of the plateprojecting beyond the eyelet to form a flange and the other end of theplate being curved to form a hook overhanging the eyelet, the extremityof the hook being disposed above the flange, the under surface of thehook being concaved directly above the eyelet, the hook being bifurcatedto form arms, the adjacent edges of Which are parallel and extendentirely across the mouth of the eyelet to a point between the inner andthe outer edges of the flange, the flange constituting a means fordirecting a projection in a string between the parallel edges of thearms, and the parallel edges of the arms constituting means for holdingthe projection in the concavity and in the mouth of the eyelet.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy s1gnature in the presence of tWo Witnesses.

FRED O. C. BROWN.

Witnesses:

ALDRICH BLAKE, F. B. AVERY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

